February 11, 2015

Team of seniors take first place in mobile app competition

Three seniors from the College of Engineering recently took first place in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers mobile device app competition. Michael Whitehead and Thaddeus Tuck, computing and information sciences, and Andrew Woolley, chemical engineering, built a Web-based app designed as a learning tool for students studying the design of centrifugal pumps. Keith Hohn, professor of chemical engineering, advised the team.

In the app, the user was provided information about the chemical nature of a fluid and the goal of the pump — elevation change, pressure change, etc. — and was then asked to calculate the required horsepower for the task. Levels became harder, adding complicating factors, as the user progressed through the game.

The team presented their app to a panel of judges during a poster presentation at the 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers national meeting in November 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. They were awarded $500, which will be given to the K-State student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.